What do Donovan McNabb, Colin Powell and Rudy Giuliani have in common?

PHILADELPHIA | The people who promote the "Get Motivated" leaderships seminars apparently haven't heard -- or have chosen to ignore -- the questions often raised about Donovan McNabb's leadership skills.

McNabb, along with the Philles' Charlie Manuel and Cole Hamels, are headliners for the June 17 Get Motivated seminar at the Wachovia Center.

McNabb will speak on competitiveness, Manuel on teamwork, Hamels on performance.

Sheppard: Eagles are vindictive

Ex-Eagle Lito Sheppard ripped the Birds' bosses in a Newsday article, alleging they acted vindictively when they acquired Asante Samuel in 2008 free agency and immediately installed him in Sheppard's starting role.

Sheppard, who was traded to the Jets this offseason, said he lost his role because he wanted a new eal.

"It's like injuries," Sheppard told Newsday. "You can't cut a guy when he's hurt, so how can you sit a guy without probable cause? Whenever a guy feels like he needs a new deal, if he addresses that, don't make it like, 'You don't tell us what to do. We have to show you who's boss.' That's dead wrong."

One way or another, RBrown in Eagles' plans

Whatever the case, first GM Tom Heckert (pre-draft)and now offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg have said nice things about the wide receiverwho had a career-low 18 catches last season.

"Another player who has done an outstanding job is Reggie Brown," Mornhinweg said during the past weekend's minicamp. "Outstanding. He is healthy. It's good to see him healthy and running fast and catching the ball. He's smooth. He was impressive yesterday, as well as this morning."

** The King's take:Sports Illustrated's Peter King got Heckert to offer insight into how the Eagles got Ellis Hobbs from the Patriots in exchange for two fifth-round picks.

They saw the Patriots take, and keep, two corners from the 2008 draft, and now, in the second round of this draft, they saw Bill Belichick take UConn cornerback Darius Butler, King wrote in his si.com blog.

"We knew the Patriots signed Shawn Springs too, so we said, 'Let's try to get Ellis Hobbs from them,'" Heckert told King. "We talked, Andy [Reid] and Bill [Belichick], and Bill didn't want to do it. But a while later we called again, and maybe they thought there was a chance they were going to lose him anyway. I don't know. But a starting cornerback for two fives -- we just couldn't turn that down.''

Ingram looks good now, but there's a long, long road ahead

Cornelius Ingram, the Florida TE the Eagles drafted in the fifth round, has drawn glowing reviews for the potential he's shown in minicamp.

And that's fine.

But some words of caution.

First, from Eagles offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg, when asked if the 6-4, 245-pound Ingram could be the steal of the draft: "Hopefully they all are. We'll know more as we go in training camp. For all these new players, there is so much. A certain player might look great right now, but quite possibly they'll struggle in some other segment that he needs to play at a high level. Some guys go through the whole process pretty seamlessly. Those are the players who can help you really early. We'll know a little bit more in the middle of training camp."

Now, from yours truly:

1. It's only May. Not even Cinco de Mayo yet.

2. Ingram missed the past season because of a knee injury. Even rookies who played every game of their college careers hit the rookie wall, because the four preseason games and 16 regular-season games -- and maybe the playoffs -- are quite an increase over the 11, 12 or 13 games colleges play.

** Andrews, the former Cincinnati Bengal who was signed as a free agent, is recovering from the knee injury suffered late last season.

** Curtis is on the mend from April 15 sports hernia surgery that was a follow up to last summer’s surgery that caused him to miss half of last season.

** Herremans is recovering from arthroscopic knee surgery.

Reid said he expects to have at least a couple, if not all, three players available for minicamp workouts in June.

Andrews’ brother, Shawn, was a right tackle for the workout, and Reid said it’s possible he will stay there. Under that scenario, Stacy would move from tackle to guard and compete for the starting role.

In other news:

** Donovan McNabb and Brian Westbrook declined to participate in press conferences, departing from the norm of past years.

** Sheldon Brown reiterated unhappiness with his contract, but said he will work hard and also help newly acquired Ellis Hobbs learn cornerback in the Eagles’ system.